Falling Literally and Figuratively
by Burnee14
Summary: Magnus and Alec go to Central Park. Alec may finally have found something that Magnus is not, in fact, very good at. This makes Alec somewhat happy. (Or, the fic that nobody asked for where Alec and Magnus go Ice-Skating and fluffiness ensues).
1. Part One

_Right so I had already posted part one of this in a separate document ('You Do, I Don't') about a year ago, but I wanted to have parts one and two as their own separate fic- so here it is (with some minor changes to part one). Really sorry that it took so long to write part two._

 _So wow. It has been a really long time, and for that I apologise. Work has been crazy this year (it's my last year of school before it's off to university (hopefully)). So yeah, Shadowhunters! I watched 2.08 yesterday (really loving the new special effects- SO MUCH BETTER than season one, thank goodness) and all the Malec we've been getting recently- whoop! So here is the entirety of that ice skating date- (although I could be convinced to write a part three where they return to the loft...) I actually wrote the draft for part two like a year ago so it's a bit rusty, but I thought I finally needed to post it because it's been sitting there forever._

 _Anyways, hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to message me whenever, I'll even take prompts if there is something else you want to see happen! I'm 'the . shadowhunted ' on Instagram so come say hi._  
 _-Ivy_

* * *

The sun was just starting to dip below the horizon by the time Magnus finally made it out of his apartment. The rays cast a soft, rich glow onto the cluster of skyscrapers in the distance. He had always wondered why the mundanes called this time of day the 'golden hour'. Now he understood, but then again that may be because the colour held more meaning for him now. He smiled, thinking of a certain person in a certain tux.

He was thinking of dropping by at the hospital to see his friend Catarina, a warlock who had decided to work as a nurse in the mundane world. He hadn't seen her in some time and believed a social visit was in order.

Magnus could portal anywhere he wanted to. But he didn't. He enjoyed walking around the city, especially at this time of day, as afternoon turned into evening. Brooklyn was such a busy place usually. He enjoyed the stillness and calm that seemed to wash over the city just before night came. When it was dark, it was a completely different story. He had only walked two blocks when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He drew it out, surprised to see that it was a text from Alexander. He hadn't expected to hear from his Shadowhunter; he thought he was out on patrol.

He opened the message up.

 _Meet me 5:30 at Central Park- Alec_

Magnus smiled at the fact he put his name after every text message, as if he didn't expect to have a place in Magnus's contact list. He wondered what had happened, what could be so urgent. It was only 5:25 now, which didn't leave him much time to get there. He ducked into a side alley off of the main street and quickly conjured a portal and glamoured himself. He stepped into and through the swirling vortex. It closed quickly behind him with a snap.

When his feet stepped out onto solid ground again, he looked around him quickly, trying to find the group of Shadowhunters he had become familiar with over the last few weeks; Clary and her fiery locks, Izzy and her unnervingly high heels, Jace with his stubborn gaze (a face he felt like slapping at times, but he'd leave that to Clary). And Alec. Well, there would be no mistaking anyone else for _him_. Crowds moved around, groups of students, people in suits, all on their way back home. He was starting to get ever so slightly worried at the lack of black gear.

But then he saw him. Alexander, leaning casually against a metal railing, surveying the area, people watching. He was wearing mundane clothes, and Magnus had to admit he had done a pretty good job of blending in. He was wearing a dark green sweater and jeans, his hair as beautifully scruffy as ever. He wasn't glamoured either, Magnus noticed. His runes were only partially covered, the black lines peeking out from under his clothes. Girls and boys alike were walking past him, throwing appreciative glances, but much to Magnus's amusement Alec either didn't notice this or was just simply uninterested. That was one of the things Magnus really liked about him; he didn't realise just how gorgeous he really was. And he was alone. Magnus decided to watch him for a couple of minutes. Not in a creepy way, he told himself, but in an ' _I'm looking at a piece of art that I could look at all day_ ' way. Yeah, he admitted to himself, he was somewhat besotted.

Every so often he would glance down at his phone and then look around expectantly. Magnus was glamoured. Alexander wouldn't be able to see him. He decided to have a bit of fun, the situation clearly wasn't life or death, which it had been on occasion. He crossed the street quickly. People avoided him; there was something in the magic that naturally repelled them, so they instinctually made space or walked around him. He walked until he saw stood a couple of paces away from Alec, leaning against the railing next to him. He took out his phone and typed a quick message.

 _I like the sweater- M_

Alec's phone gave a chime and he looked down at the message on the screen. Seeing that it was from Magnus he smiled. It lit up his face. Magnus liked that he was one of the chosen few who could make him happy like that.

"Okay, I know you're here somewhere. Stop making me look like an idiot talking to myself and- you know? Appear?"

He got a few odd glances at that. It didn't look like he really cared.

Magnus reached out and grabbed his hand. Alec jumped at that, turning quickly in the direction of where Magnus was standing.

"Okay, I still can't see you. I can feel you-" he blushed a charming shade of red at that.

Magnus sighed and dragged him around the corner to where they couldn't be seen by the entire street.

"Magnus where are you go- what are you doing?" Alec asked, a little flustered.

When he had checked that the coast was clear, Magnus lifted the glamor from himself and dropped Alec's hand, giving him some space. He didn't want to rush him.

"Couldn't very well reveal myself suddenly to hordes of New Yorkers now could I? Invisible one second and there the next."

Alec noticed faintly that Magnus's hair was still tinged red on the ends. He didn't know whether the warlock had done it intentionally or not, but that red was the exact same shade as the ends of his arrows.

"No, sure- I- wasn't really thinking," he stumbled over his words. Again.

Magnus just smiled at him. "You wanted to see me?"

"Um, yeah, " he said, hesitant at first, but then it all just came tumbling out, "Basically-iwasjustwondering-whetheryouwantedto-goonlikeadate-now-withme-centralpark? "

"Okay, what I got from that was Central Park."

"Yes."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Well, I guess with everything that's been happening recently. You know- how you were saying that there is never not going to be a war. Well, I thought we could. Maybe. Go on another date. One where I don't ask overly awkward questions or make the mistake of thinking you are bad at pool when obviously you wouldn't be-"

Magnus holds up a single finger to stop his rambling. Alec smiles. They start walking, no real destination in mind.

"Anyway- I was thinking it would be nice. If we," he gestured between the two of them.

"You know what, I have nothing planned" Magnus said, his eyes sparkling.

"Oh. Great. Yes. I should have checked first. Sorry"

"Alexander," Magnus grinned.

"Yes?" Alec sounded relieved.

"What did you have in mind? Nice romantic stroll through the trees?"

Alec blushed again but smiled, a little shy.

"No- I was thinking more along the lines of Ice Skating?"

They were walking under a couple of trees on the main street when Magnus stopped suddenly.

"You can ice skate!?" Magnus asked.

He hadn't expected shadowhunters to have hobbies outside of their work. Hadn't expected that they ever went out to have _fun_. Teach him to make assumptions.

"I- a little bit? I used to go with Izzy and Jace every Christmas" Alec said, confused, "Can't you?"

Now it was Magnus's turn to look embarrassed.

"You haven't have you? Been ice skating, that is?" Alec looked shocked now, if not a little bit pleased with himself.

They had started walking again, occasionally brushing shoulders, brushing hands, sending little sparks into each others bones. They were quiet again for some time. It was a comfortable silence, though, not awkward in the slightest, which Alec might have thought it would be. The streetlamps were beginning to come on, people coming out in drips and drabs to experience the night life of New York.

"Once," Magnus said," with Catarina, a friend of mine. It was… a long time ago. And not an experience I really want to repeat. Nor one I could ever forget," he said, wincing.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. We don't have to go-"

"No," Magnus said quickly, "I want to. That other time- we were."

To Alec's surprise he started laughing.

"Okay. I'll be honest. It was my first time on the ice, but Caterina didn't know that. I'd told her that I'd been before, that I'd actually competed in the mundane Olympics several years earlier. This was, of course, a lie. It was a small ice rink, more like a lake really, frozen over. It was in Russia. In the 1940s if I recall correctly. Tessa came out to visit us, and I think Ragnor may have been there too-" his eyes glazed over with the memory, but he seemed to shake it off. "I decided, as I was such an _amazing_ , professional figure skater, that I would- That I would try a butterfly jump. We were _very_ competitive back then"

Alec looked at him with wide eyes. "And-"

"And I was in hospital for weeks. Well, I say _hospital_. I was bed-bound by Catarina, who is a nurse now in New York by the way, and forced to watch Laurel and Hardy, on repeat, for three whole weeks. THREE WHOLE WEEKS, Alexander. Of Laurel and Hardy. Do you know what that does to a man's mental state? To his soul?"

Alec looked at him with humour in his eyes. They looked more green today, like the colour of leaves as they just begin to change for autumn. He could lose himself in those eyes.

"I can only imagine."

"You have no idea who Laurel and Hardy are do you?"

"Not in the faintest."


	2. Part Two

**Part Two (from Magnus's POV I guess)**

* * *

"OWWWW" Magnus yelped. (He may have exaggerated this for dramatic effect).

"Hold still. You're making it worse," Alec chastised.

He had Magnus's left foot in his lap and was trying, as gently as possible he might add, to undo and remove the boot encasing it.

"How do you end up tripping over your own feet before you've even made it onto the ice?" Alec asked, trying to keep a smile off his face. He was failing miserably.

"Oh, you can hardly talk, Mr 'I fall down stairs for fun'" Magnus said, wincing as the boot was finally removed, to be placed alongside the other one on the floor.

"That was one time! Besides, I didn't sprain my ankle in the process."

They were in Central Park. It was the middle of winter, and New York had come alive around them. They had retired to a side bench, skaters continuing to circle the rink around them, completely oblivious to the fact that they were in the presence of a warlock and a shadowhunter; two people that protected them, unpraised and unappreciated, on a daily basis.

"It's wonderful to know that you take such joy in my sufferings, Alexander," Magnus said, any annoyance lost as, almost surprisingly, he found himself smiling too.

"Hold on two seconds, I'm going to get some ice," Alec said, shifting out of his sweater, standing up and placing it under Magnus's feet in the place of his lap.

Truth be told, Magnus admitted to himself, he was enjoying the attention. He wasn't used to being cared for. And no. He hadn't fallen over on purpose. Though, as things were going, he wouldn't put it past himself to attempt it again sometime in the future. It had all just worked beautifully in his favour.

After he had face-planted, Alec had helped him up with concern and something akin to relief on his face. Why he should be _relieved_ at his misfortunes was a mystery. Maybe Magnus had read it wrong. Either that or he was currently dating a sociopath. He had dated worse over the last couple of hundred years if he was being completely honest with himself. Mild sociopathic tendencies he could deal with.

He watched as Alec returned holding a blue packet in his hands. He moved with such ease, balanced on the thin edges of his skates. He moved like a shadowhunter, Magnus thought. It shouldn't shock him, but it did. Alexander was tall (like _really_ tall), beautiful (although he didn't seem to know it) and held himself with a new-found confidence. But if there was one thing that he thought Alexander would never be, it was graceful. But there he was. With all the grace and poise of an angel. Yes, Magnus thought, the fall had made him mildly delirious. That was it.

The sheer intensity of emotion that he felt for this boy terrified him. The implications of which he was currently unwilling to dwell upon.

"Here," Alec said, placing the ice pack gently down on Magnus's ankle in a practised manner.

"Ah, much better," he said, clearing his head, "thank you. I can feel it getting better all ready."

Alec smiled then, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Magnus asked, becoming increasingly concerned that Alec had seen something in his gaze that he wasn't quite ready to reveal yet.

"It's just weird, that's all."

"What is?"

"I just always thought-" Alec blushed then, "you know- you're the height of sophistication. And it's just strange to see you falling over, like a normal person. No wait- that came out wrong- I just mean-"

"Even Warlocks are capable of falling, Alexander. And we do, from time to time."

Alec looked around quickly at the mention of warlocks, keenly aware that they could be seen and heard by mundanes.

Magnus snapped his fingers and suddenly the noise around them dimmed, became muffled. Alec snapped his head back around, eyes wide.

"How did you-"

"Magic," Magnus said, waggling his fingers dramatically. "They can still see us, but they can't hear us."

Alec looked him in the eye, before averting his gaze, something clearly playing on his mind.

"Look, Alexander. I know we never finished our conversation." He didn't need to specify _which_ conversation for them to know they were on the same page.

He reached out and took Alec's hand. To his credit, Alec let him, though he still wouldn't look at him. Magnus was about to give up when Alec finally relented.

"I shouldn't have brought it up- I know th- I don't know much about any of this, really. I thought I knew exactly where my life was going, Magnus. I would live until I was thirty something, probably married to some shadowhunter that my parents had picked out-" Magnus was looking at him with increasing alarm, "Don't look at me like that- that's just how it is. And I was okay with that. I _was_ okay with that."

"But now you're not." It wasn't a question.

"I found myself wanting something more- _needing_ something more. Thinking that I _deserved_ \- You must think me completely selfish, and I am. I'm disgusted at myself-"

"Alexander, stop," Magnus snapped. "Don't you ever say that. Don't you ever _dare_ say that."

Alec looked at him shocked. "But-"

"No buts. You are not selfish. You are not disgusting. You are one of- if not _the_ most amazingly _selfless_ person I have ever met. You walked into that party that day and you saved my life. You may not think that means anything, but it does. And I saw you, Alexander, I saw _you_. Trying so hard to- to please everyone else. You didn't even _see_ yourself as someone worthy of the same treatment. But that's just it- you don't see how absurdly incredible _you_ are. And it's okay to have these doubts. It's more than okay, it's what makes you human. It's the thing that makes me l-" he caught himself quickly, he couldn't scare him off, not now. "You're a careful person. And that's okay. But you don't need to pretend with me, Alexander. That's what I'm trying to tell you," he said, nudging Alec gently with his left foot.

Alec looked at him in absolute awe, his ears a charming shade of red.

"Your-" he began, smiling, "Your ankle seems a lot better."

"Whatever do you mean? I'm in crippling agony," Magnus said, surprised at Alec's response.

Magnus looked down to see his right ankle still adorned with the ice pack.

"I'm pretty sure you 'sprained' your left ankle. The one you just kicked me with."

"I didn't kick you, I affectionately nudged you. There is a difference. And why, then, is there an ice pack on my right foot?"

Alec looked at him smugly. Magnus thought for a beat before his eyes went wide.

"You played me," Magnus said shocked, if not a little impressed.

"Hey, you played me first. Did you even hurt your ankle?"

"I- Well, yes. But I healed it within a few seconds."

"Okay then. That means you can ice skate."

Magnus looked at him and then and burst out laughing. Before Alexander, such jubilance had been rare. He was happy to note that it was now a regular occurrence.

"Was I really that obvious?" Magnus asked.

"Positively see-through"

Alec got up then and offered Magnus his hand.

"You're really going to make me do this aren't you?" Magnus asked.

"Yes."

"Where has this new found confidence come from Lightwood? I like it," he said, snapping his fingers so that his skates were suddenly on his feet.

Alec blushed again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently.

"Somebody today told me that I was worth something."

Magnus took his offered hand, smiling at their mutual understanding. "Wise words. Sounds like he was trying to hit on you though. Where is he so that I can turn him into a Kakapo."

Alec smiled, dragging Magnus towards the ice rink.

"Mmhmm. And what in Raziel's name is a Kakapo?"

As soon as they got onto the ice, Magnus may or may not have fallen over again. And he may or may not have pulled Alec down so that he landed on top of him.

As Alexander looked down at him in shocked bemusement, warm breath landing ever so lightly on his boyfriend's lips, Magnus could feel his bum start to freeze; the melted ice soaking through his trousers and more than likely permanently ruining them. And he couldn't bring himself to care. Ice-skating was his new favourite pastime.

* * *

 **So yeah, leave a review if you want!**


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